Slipping through the shadows unseen, striking from the darkness with a relentless barrage of melee attacks, one could easily mistake the latest class revealed for Guild Wars 2 as some sort of assassin - and they wouldn't be far off.

So far we've seen two different flavors of casters and two heavily-armored fighter professions revealed for ArenaNet's eagerly-anticipated MMO Guild Wars 2, but only one roguish class - the Ranger. Today ArenaNet evens out the profession distribution with the Thief, a character class perfect for fans of the original Guild Wars' Assassin.

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The Thief profession employs stealth, shadow-stepping, traps, and dual skills to do her dirty work, slicing away at foes with swords and daggers or whittling them down from afar with pistols and shortbows. They can even steal items from their enemies to use as weapons. And while they may don lighter armor, the Thief has an advantage over other melee classes, using initiative points to string together skills instead of having to wait for them to recharge like everybody else.

Guild Wars 2 fans will get their first taste of the Thief at PAX East in Boston, where a new playable demo will be on hand to introduce them to the fine art of doing it from behind.

And if you aren't going to PAX, you'll just have to watch the Guild Wars 2 website for more info like the rest of us.